Wednesday, October 14, 2009

To be, or not to be...

Quick recap. Had a rockin summer, flew home, drove back, camped a little, rope-swing-ed a little, rafted a little, played a lot, made tons of friends, gathered a little focus in my life.

Doing what’s right + living a healthy life = happiness, peace, satisfaction, and contentment.

Balance. Not something I’m so good at. I do/feel things in phases. If I like a song, I’m addicted and listen to it on repeat till everyone around me hates my guts. If I’m motivated to do my homework, I’ll do a week’s worth at a time. If I’m motivated to be more physically healthy, I go off the deep end…. For a little while. None of it is usually sustained. If I’m in the mood to do something, I go at it full force, till my drive runs out.

This manner of living doesn’t really get one anywhere, except a few random, sweet accomplishments.

What I need to work on striving for is dedication and consistency.

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I actually wrote that a few weeks ago. My computer (you go, baby computer) autosaved it, and I found it today. For once, I’ve actually been pretty good about following through with this goal! The few things I’ve been wanting to work on (school, work, service, fun, progression with my Okla-homie, talking to my fam, and sleep, to name a few) have made marked progress – and my life feels so much more fulfilling because of it.

Okla-homie and I had a pretty good discussion whilst hiking the other day about what motivates us. I like setting goals and achieving them. Being able to check something off a list brings me great satisfaction. Lately, however, I’ve started being more motivated by the kind of person I want to BE, rather than the things I want to DO. If I want to be more spiritual, I read my scriptures, have a better attitude, participate in more service, etc. If I want to be more adventurous, I go camping, I go skydiving, I let random men throw me over a ravine, whatever. Life is too complex to plan exactly… so if I can focus on BEING a certain way, it allows me to be more flexible… and I think I like that kind of progress as a person better anyway.